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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29891985">Partners (Nudge Nudge Wink Wink Air Quotes)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LerxstInSpace/pseuds/LerxstInSpace'>LerxstInSpace</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Breaking and Entering [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angry Kissing, Comfort Sex, Developing Relationship, Hand Jobs, M/M, Mentions of injuries and such, Partners to Lovers, Reno being Reno, Vague and/or offscreen violence, it's Turk fic y'all, pretty much all of that is offscreen though, stuff's gonna die now and then</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:29:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29891985</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LerxstInSpace/pseuds/LerxstInSpace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So... Rude is okay with this. With living together, with working together, with just being with this cocky asshole he somehow managed to fall in love with despite absolutely fucking nothing about Reno being the kind of thing he’d ever fallen in love with before. He’s okay with all of it.</p><p>Tseng is clearly not so okay with it.</p><p>There’s no come-to-Shiva meeting over it or anything, he doesn’t make any comments about it at all and Rufus just straight up does not care because again, they get their job done and they don’t complain about it and whatever else they get up to on and especially off the clock is not his problem. But Tseng isn’t giving them that smug look anymore. Now he’s looking at them like he thinks he’s made a mistake. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Breaking and Entering [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2160927</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They’ve been living together for something like three years now. For the most part, it’s been good. They argue over stupid shit sometimes, like any couple does, but for the most part they’re good at communicating and they’re not shy about telling each other what they need and taking care of each other when they need it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It probably doesn’t hurt that they’ve both literally saved each others’ lives more times than they can count.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They’ve been <em> partners </em>almost as long as they’ve been working partners. But if they’re being completely honest... they actually kind of hated each others’ guts at first.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sure, they worked well enough together when they were forced to, because they didn’t have a choice. So they got their job done and they came back to the office and did what they needed to do. Then they proceeded to either stay the hell away from each other for the rest of the day, or bitch and gripe about every little thing the other fucked up for the rest of the day, and the whole time they were doing that Tseng just watched them. Like he was studying a couple of lab mice that just happened to hate each other but were forced to share a cage and a food dish and a hamster wheel. Like he was just waiting for something to happen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reno thought Rude had a stick up his ass. Rude thought Reno was a cocky asshole. Nowadays, they will each admit that the other wasn’t wrong about that. But they still bitched and complained and bickered like an old married couple and probably drove Rufus up the damn wall and neither of them cared. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tseng didn’t care either. In fact, he’d get this kind of weirdly smug look on his face every time he walked in on them snapping at each other and now that they think about it he probably knew something they didn’t when he put them together. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now that they think about it, it was probably the first time he’d seen Rude say more than two words at a time, and the first time he’d seen Reno shut up long enough to listen to them.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>They’ve been working together for a couple of weeks when Rude decides he’s had enough of this shit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s not like Reno doesn’t know what he’s doing. No, he’s damn good at his job, even Rude has to give him that, that isn’t the problem. The problem, to put it in the simplest possible terms, is that Reno is a fucking <em> dick. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s the same shit every damn day. He comes to work. He tries to do his damn job to the best of his ability, and what does he get for it? Yelled at by this asshole partner of his because... because of whatever bullshit reason Reno found to yell at him today. And... okay. True. Technically, on paper, Reno outranks him. Maybe only by a couple of months, but he <em> has </em> been wearing the suit longer. And it’s not like Rude doesn’t pull the same shit sometimes. He will admit he has not always taken the high road, and he will admit that sometimes Reno has. But god<em>damn. </em>This is no way to work and he’s tired of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, fuck it. He’s going to walk into Tseng’s office, Rude thinks, and he’s going to very calmly explain to his boss that this is just not working out for either of them and one of them is going to have to go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Except as he’s getting ready to do that, the door bangs open and Reno comes storming out glaring daggers at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Guess you’re stuck with me, <em> partner,” </em>he spits on the way out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shit. Did he just...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Whatever.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rude just shrugs it off and goes in there and shuts the door, and before he can get one damn word out Tseng just gives him that smug-ass look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let me guess,” he says. “You’re going to quit if I don’t split you two up. Is that what you came in here to tell me?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Something like that,” Rude says. “How’d you know?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Is he smiling? It’s not touching his eyes, but he sure as hell is smiling. “Your partner just said the exact same thing. And I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him: <em> no. </em>”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“With all due respect,” Rude says through his teeth, “this is bullshit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Funny. He said that too,” Tseng says, and if he didn’t respect the guy so much Rude would vault over that damn desk and strangle him. “In so many words, no less. See? You really <em> are </em>a good match.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God fucking dammit. “I <em> cannot </em>work with him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmm.” Tseng picks up the folder in front of him and leafs through it. “That’s not what your mission reports are telling me. It’s not <em> working </em> with him that’s the problem, is it? You’re fine as long as you’re in the field. It’s just when you’re back here that you have... issues.” He closes his folder and tosses it back onto his desk. “I suppose I’ll just have to keep you two busy until you work out whatever your problem is. You can see yourself out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Fuck. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Two weeks and one mission that almost goes to shit later, they work out their problem in a way Tseng probably never intended them to.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p><em> I’m not gay, </em>Rude thinks, backed up against a wall in a dark alley in the shittiest part of Wall Market. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s kind of a stupid thing to think when he’s got Reno’s hand around his dick and his own hand around Reno’s and they’re both so hard he’s surprised either of them has lasted this long, but here they are.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This morning and in fact pretty much every morning of his life up to now, Rude was one hundred percent sure he was straight. Not that he consciously thought about that or anything, he just knew he liked girls and it was just what he’d always figured he was and he’d never had any reason to think otherwise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Twenty minutes ago he and Reno almost died and the less said about that the better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ten minutes ago they stood there seething at each other while the bodies got carted away, Reno on his phone letting Tseng know they were both still alive and the target (plus a bunch of his underlings) wasn’t and they were on their way back, Rude trying to look anywhere other than at Reno because if that cocky asshole said <em> one damn word... </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Five minutes ago that cocky asshole said several damn words. It started off enough like their usual pissing contests with the usual bitching and sniping and Reno busting out cackling and rolling his eyes and going <em> oh here we fuckin’ go </em> like he always does and Rude snapping <em> don’t even roll your damn eyes at me </em> back at him like <em> he </em>always does. But this time it escalated in a way it never had and it crossed lines they’d never even stepped up to and for a minute there Rude was sure it was going to end with them adding each other to the evening’s body count. Later on he will admit he felt something different about it from the start, something desperate, like they were both flailing around trying to grab any lifeline they could get their hands on, like they were both trying to say something completely different from what they were yelling at each other.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Two minutes ago Reno grabbed Rude by the lapels and shoved him back against the wall, and Rude thought this was it, they were absolutely about to kill each other, but instead Reno darted in and kissed him in a way he could only describe as <em> vicious. </em>Deep, and hard, and lots of teeth, with his hip mashed up against Rude’s dick in a way he couldn't ignore and didn't want to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A minute and fifty-five seconds ago Rude buried his hands in Reno’s stupid fire-engine red hair and kissed him back, just as viciously. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And now... </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, now it’s starting to sink in that he might not be as straight as he thought, because now they’re jacking each other off in a dark alley in the shittiest part of Wall Market and he is <em> into it. </em>No sense even trying to tell himself he isn’t.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not gay,” Rude tells himself again anyway, this time out loud. It doesn’t sound any less stupid coming out of his mouth than it did inside his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, well.” Reno does this <em> thing </em>with his hand, this twisting kind of thing around the head of his cock, and Rude has to lean back against the wall to keep from crumpling to the ground and taking Reno with him. “Technically? Me neither. You wanna stop?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fuck no.” Despite the fact that they were ready to murder each other a few minutes ago he knows Reno would stop if he said yes and he doesn’t want Reno to stop. He needs this. Exactly this. Right here. With this cocky asshole who either almost got him killed or saved his life or both tonight. He knows he’s going to have a lot of shit to unpack about it later but right now <em>he needs this.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>He guesses he could close his eyes and try to pretend he’s got a girl's hand around his dick but the weird thing is... he doesn’t want to pretend it’s a girl. He doesn’t want to pretend it’s anyone else. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t because Reno hasn’t shut the fuck up for one damn second since they got each others’ pants unzipped and even when he has Rude’s lower lip between his teeth he’s <em> still </em>talking. Normally Rude finds talkative partners kind of annoying but at this point he’s too busy to be annoyed. Too busy being relieved that they’re both still alive. Too busy thinking about how good Reno’s hand feels. Too busy being kind of weirded out by how okay he is with jacking another guy off in a dark alley that just had dead bodies hauled out of it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yeah. He’s definitely going to have some shit to unpack later.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look, I’ll--” Reno makes a noise, the kind that means Rude just did something right. “God<em>damn, </em> just like that, you sure you’ve never done this? ‘Cause you’re <em> real </em> fuckin’ good at this--I’ll buy you a copy of fuckin’... <em> Queer Studies for Dummies </em> or whatever and you can figure your shit out later, just <em> keep fuckin’ doing that.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rude keeps doing that, and Reno keeps doing what he’s doing, and it’s faster and rougher than he usually likes it but right now it’s exactly what he didn’t know he needed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then that constant stream of chatter breaks down into a ridiculous kind of X-rated word salad, just a rush of bits and pieces of all the things Reno wants to do to him broken up by gasps and groans and all kinds of other noises. Any other time he might laugh a little but now, when Reno is stroking his cock like this and describing at least three other things he wants to do with it all at once, the only thing that comes out of Rude’s mouth is encouragement. He won’t remember exactly what he said later but whatever it is, it’s all Reno needs to push him over the edge. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It still catches him a little off guard when Reno yelps into the side of his neck and bucks into his hand. He didn’t expect to like this part of it. But he does, and feeling Reno’s cock spurting into his hand is enough to set him off too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He can’t remember the last time he came this hard. He’s not sure he ever has.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Things get a little hazy after that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He remembers little flashes of the next few minutes. Looking up just in time to see Reno casually lick his fingers clean. The sound of their breath, hot and ragged. Reno’s arm around his shoulders, forehead pressed against his. The smell of dark alley and sweat and come and gunpowder and Reno’s hair which for some reason smells kind of like fruit punch. He doesn’t remember how he cleaned his own hand up, definitely doesn’t know how the fuck they missed each others’ clothes but he’s grateful for that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You okay?” Reno asks him. Just a whisper. Almost tender, which is rich coming out of him, but right now Rude can’t find it in him to question it or laugh at it or do anything but take it at face value.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he whispers back. “You?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh hell yeah.” He shuts his eyes. Like he wants to stay like this. Like he’s actually enjoying it, and maybe he is. “Fuck. We gotta get back.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. Okay.” When did he zip his pants up? When did Reno zip <em> his </em>up? Fuck it, doesn’t matter. “Is this something we’re gonna do one time and never talk about again, or what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a weird look on Reno’s face. Like that wasn’t a question he was expecting. “I dunno. Maybe. If that’s what you want.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rude thinks that over for a bit. “Is that what <em> you </em>want?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No.” No smartass comment. No eye-rolling. No nothing but a plain, simple, sincere-sounding <em> no.  </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“‘Kay.” Rude pushes off the wall, tests his legs, makes sure they’re ready to hold him up. “Maybe less with the yelling next time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It takes a second to sink in, and then Reno flashes him a big toothy grin. “Sure. And definitely less with the almost dying, I swear to fuckin’ God if you <em> ever </em>jump out in front of me like that again--”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wouldn’ta had to if you’d kept your damn head down like I told you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, <em> here we fuckin’ go.” </em>Reno rolls his eyes like he always does when he says that, but this time the laugh that comes out with it is different. It’s usually cruel, with a jagged edge to it. This time it’s more relaxed, almost affectionate. “Y’know, you coulda just told me you wanted to fuck me. Like normal people do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Like normal people, my <em> ass.” </em> Rude shakes his head, and Reno pats him on said ass, and he swats at that hand but doesn’t really mean it, and that just makes Reno laugh again. “Or <em> you </em>could have. Shit works both ways.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Eh. I guess.” He doesn’t say anything for a while, then he gets this weird pained look on his face. “Fuckin’ Tseng. You know he’s gonna see us walk in, like... not looking murder at each other and he’s gonna give us that fuckin’ smug-ass look...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shit. Yeah, he probably is. Ah well. “Worth it,” Rude says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hell yeah it is.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reno drives them back to the office because Rude doesn’t trust himself to not fall asleep behind the wheel. And maybe he does fall asleep. Maybe he’s caught in that weird state between awake and asleep. But he’s sure he feels a hand on his thigh just before they pull into the parking garage, and he’s sure he’d like to keep feeling it there.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Tseng does not give them that fucking smug-ass look when they come in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looks at them maybe a little more intently than he normally would, sure, because they <em> are </em>acting different when they walk in. But he’s not doing that smug shit so there’s that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At least he doesn’t until Reno makes some noise about going to get a coffee and offers to bring Rude one. “Little bit of cream and no sugar, right?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And it’s not even out of Rude’s mouth before his brain goes <em> aw fuck </em>and Tseng perks up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not going to say ‘I told you so,’” Tseng starts the second Reno is out of earshot. “But...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Goddammit.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Things are different after that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, they still bitch and complain and argue like an old married couple, all the time. That hasn’t changed. And they still drive Rufus up the fucking wall, because it’s kind of fun to, because they know he’s not going to actually <em> do </em> anything about it other than yell at them to get the fuck out of his office and maybe make some noise about feeding them to his dog (which he won’t do because he would have to replace two Turks and he doesn’t have time for that). But now they really <em> do </em>argue like an old married couple, weirdly affectionate undertones and all. And then they go get lunch together, and come back and do whatever pencil-pushing busywork bullshit they have to do, and they’re fine. And then five o’clock rolls around and provided the shit hasn’t hit the fan in a way that needs Turk attention, they go off to the gym together. More often than not, they grab dinner together after that. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>More and more often, they go home together. Usually to Rude’s apartment. Reno isn’t used to making Turk money yet even though he’s been making it a little longer and... well, his place isn’t <em> bad, </em>it’s just kind of bare. Furniture that probably came with the place, nothing on the walls, not much in the kitchen or the bathroom, no headboard on the bed. He doesn’t even have a TV yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then they start doing this thing, this thing where they have whole conversations without saying a single word out loud. Tseng was right, they <em> did </em> work pretty well together before, but now it’s on a whole new level. Now when they work together, they’re like one person in two bodies. They hardly have to say anything to each other in the field after a while. It’s like they just <em> know </em>when the other needs ammo or cover or a distraction or anything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course it doesn’t take Tseng long to figure out that maybe they work a little <em> too </em>well together.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>And then they move in together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, it isn’t so much that they <em> move in together </em>as Reno keeps spending the night at Rude’s place, and more of his shit keeps finding its way over there, and it’s not like he has a lot of shit to bring over in the first place, and eventually he just stops going back to his own apartment. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rude doesn’t mind. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a lot of shit Rude thinks he should mind, but doesn’t.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind that Reno bounces out of bed every morning the first time the alarm goes off and sometimes literally says <em> fuck yeah, I’m still alive </em>out loud and goes to put coffee on while Rude hits the snooze button. He doesn’t mind that Reno’s preferred genre of music can best be described as “loud.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind that Reno forgets they can afford things. Like milk for their cereal and boxed mac-n-cheese, or buns for their hot dogs, or a bowl of good ramen with actual meat and eggs and stuff in it from that place on the way home instead of that ten-for-a-gil salt bomb shit. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind that Reno’s side of the bathroom counter starts filling up with hair product and moisturizer and eyeliner and stuff like that once he starts getting a little more used to making Turk money. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He likes that Reno can sew. Rude doesn’t know where he picked <em> that </em> up from or why that’s a skill set he even has, but it comes in handy and he’s not complaining. Though he’s not real sure how exactly Reno got away with doing... <em> that </em>to his uniform. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He kind of likes it when they go out on their morning run and Reno doesn’t so much <em> run </em> as treat the whole damn city like it’s his own personal jungle gym. It’s actually kind of fun to watch him jump and climb and run up walls and shit like that. He’s quick and light on his feet and he’s just built for this acrobatic shit he does and he looks <em> good </em>when he hurdles over a guard rail or swings up onto a fire escape or whatever. Every once in a while he jumps up on the hood of an occupied Public Security cruiser and then they have to sprint for a few minutes. It’s fine. It’s a good workout and it keeps the grunts on their toes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind that Reno can’t seem to sit in a chair like a normal person. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind that Reno acts like a kid sometimes because... well, he doesn’t talk about it, but Rude gets the feeling he didn’t get to <em> be </em>one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind that Reno doesn’t talk about his past. Well, most of his past. He’ll talk all day about throwing guys out of the Honeybee Inn when they decided the house rules didn’t apply to them. He <em> loved </em>that job, he’s got nothing bad to say about it, and he’d probably still be doing it if Shinra hadn’t come knocking with a sweeter deal. No, it’s the stuff before that job he doesn’t talk about, and Rude knows better than to pry. Though he does wonder about those two rules Reno has. They’re not unreasonable. They’re not even weird. But they’re not the kind of rules someone just pulls out of thin air, and on some level Rude is kind of glad he doesn’t know where they came from.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He likes that Reno doesn’t ask about <em> his </em> past either. Or about how he knows which item shops in the slums have meds and supplies in hidden storerooms, or how he knows the right signs and countersigns to buy them. Or why he gets uncomfortable when they have to visit an ER in the undercity for whatever reason.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He likes having someone around he can talk to if the job ever follows him home despite his best efforts. Because Tseng can talk all he wants about leaving work at work, but this <em> is </em>the kind of job that can follow you home whether you want it to or not. It hasn’t, not yet. But he knows sooner or later it will.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He definitely doesn’t mind falling asleep every night with Reno tucked up against his side or curled up on his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t mind Reno dragging him out to those dance clubs he likes (especially not if he’s going to wear that fuck-me red lipstick when they go out, or if he’s going to dance like <em> that, </em> years later they still can’t go out dancing without ending up in the back seat of their car like a couple of teenagers). He doesn’t quite feel like he belongs in those clubs. He still has this thing in his head like he’s too straight to be there and he’s intruding on someone else’s territory. Reno assures him that’s bullshit every time he brings it up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As for the sex... </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, maybe Rude didn’t have as much to unpack as he thought, because it didn’t take him long to stop being weirded out by how okay he is with it and start just being okay with it. More than okay with it. Good thing, because they're having a whole hell of a lot of it. Reno likes it rougher than he's used to, but he gets that Rude is still kind of figuring his shit out and he's patient and not at all shy about saying in so many words exactly what he wants to do and have done to him. And he’s even less shy with the positive feedback, which also helps.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And no. They don’t actually end up fucking after <em> every </em>mission. Just... most of them. And they generally don’t do it in dark alleys that just had dead bodies carted out of them. They usually make it home. Sometimes the car. And yes, every once in a while, in a dark alley that just had dead bodies carted out of it. It happens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So... he’s okay with this. With living together, with working together, with just <em> being </em> with this cocky asshole he somehow managed to fall in love with despite absolutely fucking <em> nothing </em>about Reno being the kind of thing he’d ever fallen in love with before. He’s okay with all of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tseng is clearly not so okay with it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s no come-to-Shiva meeting over it or anything, he doesn’t make any comments about it at all and Rufus just straight up does not care because again, they get their job done and they don’t complain about it and whatever else they get up to on and especially off the clock is not his problem. But Tseng isn’t giving them that smug look anymore. Now he’s looking at them like he thinks he’s made a mistake. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>"I wouldn't recommend that."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He kind of can’t <em> not </em>say something about it this time, given what he just walked in on. Rude can’t argue that and neither can Reno, but that’s all he says. And he says it so casually, like he’d walked in on them getting ready to pry a bagel out of the toaster with a fork. Not like he’d just walked in on them playing tonsil hockey in the office during business hours. Which is what he actually did. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, I know, no PDA on company time, got it." Reno flops into a chair a respectable professional distance away and rolls his eyes. "Sorry, boss. We'll save it till after five."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"That's not the issue and you know it." He doesn’t sound mad. Tseng never sounds mad. He never sounds... well, much of anything, really, not when he’s on the clock. He thaws out when he’s off duty, he’s even kind of fun to hang out with because he’s smart as hell and he talks about all kinds of really interesting stuff, but when he’s on duty he’s a human-shaped icicle in a black suit. “You know how I feel about leaving your work at work.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We can leave work at work, yeah. And if it follows us home anyway, we got each other.” Reno puts his feet up on the table. Rude pretends not to notice but the ever-so-slight curve of his lips gives him away. “We’re good, boss. Don’t worry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tseng just shakes his head, like he wants to keep arguing but deep down he knows they won’t fucking listen to him, and on this, on this right here, he’s right. They won’t. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>And it’s probably a good thing they don’t listen to him, because about a week later there’s a mission that follows Reno home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It’s weird, Reno thinks sometimes, how fast he got used to this. Everything about it. Because nothing about it is anything like anything he’s ever had in his whole life and it should not have been that easy for him to get used to any of this shit.</p><p>Used to being in a--God, he still can’t even say it out loud without cracking up--a committed monogamous relationship, what the <i>fuck. </i></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Look.</p><p> </p><p>Whatever Rude might have said those first few weeks they worked together, Reno really is an easy person to get along with. Sure, he’ll be the first to admit that <em> sometimes </em> he can be kind of hard to get to know, and <em> sometimes </em> he takes this whole “dunking on people to bond with them” thing a little too far, and <em> sometimes </em>he forgets that not everyone does that. But no, all you really have to do to stay off his for-real shitlist and keep breathing is follow two simple rules:</p><p> </p><ol>
<li>Don’t waste food</li>
<li>Don’t hurt kids</li>
</ol><p> </p><p>See? Easy, right?</p><p> </p><p>Not so easy for <em> some </em> motherfuckers, apparently. </p><p> </p><p>Some motherfucker isn’t breathing anymore. </p><p> </p><p>Reno wishes that was enough to make him unsee what he saw in that old ruined warehouse, but it’s not. At least most of the kids are... well, “safe” might be kind of a strong word given what happened in here and there’s a good chance a lot of them are going to have capital-I Issues about this for life, but at least they’re alive and not hurt too bad. And at least the motherfucker that did it wasn’t human. Reno doesn’t know exactly what the hell it was and isn’t sure he wants to because it kind of looked human-<em>i</em><em>sh </em>, but it wasn’t human and it wasn’t doing the kinds of fucked-up things humans do to kids sometimes, and that makes it easier. It was just stockpiling food, far as it was concerned. And it was just snatching kids because kids are small and easy to carry and can’t fight back much. It wasn’t going to do anything else to them. Just eat them. Because that’s just what animals (or whatever the hell this thing was) do and they can’t help being hungry. </p><p> </p><p>Which, y’know, is still fucking awful. Kids shouldn’t have to deal with shit like this. Even if it was just an animal (or whatever) it’s still not right. They shouldn’t have to worry about getting snatched or eaten or anything else.</p><p> </p><p>But most of these kids have families to go home to, so there’s that.</p><p> </p><p>So he focuses on that part of it, and he holds it together long enough to finish the job and finish all the cleanup that goes along with it and call Tseng to let him know it’s done. As soon as the coast is clear Rude grabs him by the arm and pulls him into the narrow space between two cargo containers and smushes their foreheads together.</p><p> </p><p>“You okay?” he whispers. He sounds kind of like this is getting to him too, and Reno doesn’t blame him at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Not fuckin’ even.”</p><p> </p><p>Rude doesn’t say anything else to that. He doesn’t ask any uncomfortable questions. He doesn’t say anything at all. He just wraps both arms around Reno, and Reno clings to him with all his strength because it’s all he can do, and they stay there until Reno can pull himself together and they can finish up whatever other shit they need to do before they hand this off to Public Security and go home.</p><p> </p><p>He already knows it’s going to follow him, and it does. Rude sits with him, and doesn’t ask questions, and lets him rant when he feels like it, and holds him when he doesn’t. He drinks enough single malt unsee juice that Rude has to carry him to bed and he still doesn’t sleep worth shit. </p><p> </p><p>Rude can’t make him unsee it either, but at least he’s there.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The day after that, Reno comes to work feeling like shit and probably looking like it too, but otherwise he’s surprisingly okay. He can focus on what he needs to do, and he’s not actively freaking out about last night, and he’s dealing. And it’s a blessedly damn slow day, and Rude brings him a cup of cream and sugar that might at one time have been in the same room as a coffee bean and an extra chocolate donut and sticks extra close to him, so that helps.</p><p> </p><p>Tseng walks in and sees him resting his head on Rude’s shoulder, and he doesn’t say anything. He definitely wants to. But he knows what happened last night, and he knows enough about the history, and he knows this isn’t the time.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It’s weird, Reno thinks sometimes, how fast he got used to this. Everything about it. Because nothing about it is anything like anything he’s ever had in his whole life and it should not have been that easy for him to get used to any of this shit.</p><p> </p><p>Used to being in a--God, he still can’t even say it out loud without cracking up--a committed monogamous relationship, what the <em> fuck. </em> </p><p> </p><p>Used to actually living with this guy and all the domestic bullshit that goes along with that. If someone had told him a year ago <em> hey Reno you’re gonna be real fuckin’ excited about getting a new vacuum cleaner someday </em> he would have laughed until he peed and yet, just last weekend... in his defense they got one <em> nice </em>fucking vacuum cleaner, the kind with all the attachments and shit for sucking the fuzz off the vent grills and whatnot, but yeah.</p><p> </p><p>Used to the idea of falling asleep next to him every night and waking up next to him every morning for the rest of his life, however long or short that might be with the job they’ve both got. He tries not to think too much about that. About what would happen if he came home from a job and Rude didn’t, or the other way around. Nothing good lies down that road.</p><p> </p><p>The point is, he’s in a situation he never imagined himself in, and he likes it. God fucking help him, he <em> loves </em>it.</p><p> </p><p>He thinks it’s cute when Rude slaps the snooze button and gives him the finger in the morning. Or when they’re out on their morning run and Rude just rolls his eyes and shakes his head and can’t quite help smiling when he finds something more fun than the sidewalk to run on. </p><p> </p><p>He appreciates that Rude can cook when he has to. Did you know there are better ways to make a quesadilla than slapping a slice of cheese on a tortilla and squirting a packet of taco sauce from that food cart down the road on there and nuking it? Reno sure as shit didn’t until Rude made him one. In a pan. On the actual stove. With vegetables and meat and stuff in it. Mind fucking <em> blown. </em></p><p> </p><p>(He <em> has </em> yelled at Rude once or twice for throwing something out that was still perfectly good, or for bringing doggie bags home from restaurants and then forgetting about them, or whatever. And he apologized for that later because of course he did, he’s not a <em> complete </em> asshole and he knows Rude probably didn’t even realize what he was doing, but... y’know. The novelty of having a reliable supply of both peanut butter <em> and </em>jelly and also bread to smear them on hasn’t quite worn off yet and old habits die hard, especially the ones that keep you from fucking starving.)</p><p> </p><p>He likes that Rude doesn’t ask him why he has those two rules in particular.</p><p> </p><p>He likes that Rude doesn’t give him shit about his music, or that he doesn’t complain when they go out to those really loud dance clubs he likes. He sure doesn’t complain about the actual dancing.</p><p> </p><p>Which brings him to: the sex. Holy <em> shit. </em></p><p> </p><p>Listen. There’s a reason why Reno still can’t say the words <em> committed monogamous relationship </em> without cracking up, okay? And that reason is exactly what you think it is. Kind of like that thing with the vacuum cleaner. <em> Hey Reno, you’re gonna be totally on board with the idea of only ever fucking one guy, maybe for the rest of your life, someday. </em>He would have laughed his entire ass off at that, too. </p><p> </p><p>He’s not laughing now because Rude is fucking <em> gorgeous, </em> for one thing. He’s big and solid and he’s got abs you could grate cheese on. And for another he’s <em> really goddamn good at this. </em> How the hell did he <em> ever </em>think he was straight!?</p><p> </p><p>But yeah, he <em> did </em> think he was straight and he’s still figuring this whole “banging guys” thing out. And that’s okay. He’s careful, mostly. More careful than he needs to be. Reno has to reassure him every damn time that he’s not made of glass or tissue paper or anything and he’s not going to break and he <em> likes </em> it rough and it’s okay to not be gentle with him. Most of the time he ends up giving Reno what he likes. Sometimes he insists on doing it <em> his </em> way, and his way is slow and lazy and absolutely nothing like the way Reno usually likes it but somehow that doesn’t matter and it’s still goddamn amazing because it’s <em> Rude </em>doing it.</p><p> </p><p>Yeah. Okay. Let’s just call it what it is, huh? <em> Reno loves this fuckin’ guy. </em> Actually for real loves him. </p><p> </p><p>They just <em> know </em>each other in a way nobody ever has. They don’t have to go out or talk or fuck or anything, just being in the same room watching TV or reading the funnies or whatever is enough. They can talk to each other about shit they can’t tell anyone else. And sure, there’s a lot he doesn’t know about Rude’s past. Tseng probably knows, just like he knows where Reno came from, and if he really wanted to he could probably ask but he doesn’t. If Rude wants him to know about his past, he’ll talk about it. And that’s fair anyway, because there’s a lot he hasn’t told Rude about his own past. Some of it he doesn’t mind talking about, like his last job. Some of it he doesn’t talk about at all, like... basically everything before that.</p><p> </p><p>He wonders about some things, though.</p><p> </p><p>For instance: he knows Tseng found Rude fighting in the Coliseum. Which, in and of itself, just isn’t that damn remarkable no matter how many fights he won. That, by itself, wouldn’t necessarily flag him as Turk material. No, he’s definitely a really damn good fighter but there was something else Tseng was interested in. He’s not saying, and neither is Rude, and Reno knows better than to ask, but...</p><p> </p><p>One thing that is absolutely crystal fucking clear is that Rude is smarter than he lets on. A lot smarter. He would go so far as to say Rude is in fact <em> scary </em> fucking smart. He’s perfectly happy to keep his shades on and his mouth shut and let people who don’t know better think he’s just a big dumb lug who’s good at throwing hands and not much else but of course Reno <em> does </em>know better. And again, he knows better than to ask. But he’s noticed some things that make him very, very curious.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Here’s one of those things, but first a little background: Reno does <em> not </em>like needles.</p><p> </p><p>Like... nobody <em> likes </em>needles, right? Okay, sure, there might be a couple of weirdos out there who do and he’s not here to kink-shame or whatever the fuck, but... nobody really likes them as in, getting wounds stitched up. Right? Sure.</p><p> </p><p>The point is, Reno really does not like needles or stitches or any of that shit and while he gets that you just can’t get around it sometimes, he would rather not have them at all please and thank you very much.</p><p> </p><p>(a few years from now he’ll meet a guy who freaks out even more than he does about needles and shit, and a few years after <em> that </em> Reno is going to have to keep the poor guy’s attention on him and off the needle Rude is sticking in his arm to hopefully get enough of his blood into Tseng to keep him from fucking dying in the chopper but never mind that right now)</p><p> </p><p>But they’re both out of magic. And they’re holed up in a shitty motel room in the slums for the night and there’s no Ether in the vending machine downstairs. And Rude is too worn out to go hunt down an item shop that’s still open at this hour that he won’t have to fight anyone on the way to or back from, and Reno is bleeding too much to do it himself, and it’s all just a big clusterfuck that’s not going to be resolved until they get some sleep. And Rude has this idea in his head that there just aren’t enough fucking bandages and tape in the first aid kit to hold Reno’s shoulder together for now and he needs to sew that shit up. And of course Reno is not having that. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine,” he says, over and over like that’s going to make it more true. “It’s fine. It’s fuckin’ fine, just tape it up.” Except he knows it’s not fine because he can feel it threatening to open back up every time he so much as breathes and he knows he’s fighting a losing battle.</p><p> </p><p>“Just trust me,” Rude says.</p><p> </p><p>“Get me some whiskey or some shit and we’ll talk about it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Right. ‘Cause a blood thinner is exactly what you need right now.”</p><p> </p><p>God. This fuckin’ guy. Yeah, Reno loves him but... <em> this fuckin’ guy. </em>“Fine. Get it over with.”</p><p> </p><p>“‘Kay.” And he starts peeling off all the tape and stuff, and Reno looks away because he doesn’t want to see any of this.</p><p> </p><p>It’s weird. Reno’s stitched Tseng up before, and that didn’t bother him. He could probably stitch Rude up and that wouldn’t bother him. No, it’s just when that needle is going into his own skin that it freaks him out and really, only if he sees it. And he doesn’t want to freak out in front of Rude. So he doesn’t look. And Rude doesn’t give him any shit for it.</p><p> </p><p>He barely feels it. He feels a tug now and then, but he barely feels the needle. He makes the mistake of looking once because he doesn’t believe Rude is actually doing anything. And he’s wrong. He’s halfway done.</p><p> </p><p>Reno looks away quickly because the last thing he wants to do is pass out while Rude is skewering him. His vision goes a little dark around the edges for a second anyway, and when it clears he feels cold sweat on his forehead. So much for being cool about this. “You done this before?” </p><p> </p><p>“Couple times.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just a couple?”</p><p> </p><p>Rude just shrugs, in that way he shrugs when he doesn’t want to talk about whatever he doesn’t want to talk about and Reno knows better than to press him.</p><p> </p><p>Still... Rude knows <em> exactly </em> how the fuck to do this. Not just in the “making it hurt as little as possible” sense, those stitches are precise and perfect and by the time they come out he might not even have much of a scar to show for it. And that just doesn’t add up. Reno knows how to handle a needle and thread (does his uniform <em> look </em> like fucking standard issue to you?) but there’s sewing up clothes and then there’s sewing up human people and those are two completely different skill sets and Rude definitely knows the right and proper and correct and very goddamn <em> professional </em>way to sew up a human person.</p><p> </p><p>He knows Rude doesn’t want to talk about it, but he can’t quite let it go. “Where’d you learn how?”</p><p> </p><p>Rude shrugs again. Reno considers pressing him on it anyway, remembers how that subject even came up, decides it’s probably not a great idea to keep harassing the man while he’s sticking a needle in his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>He stops asking. But he doesn’t stop thinking about it.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A few weeks later there’s an undercover job. And Tseng decides he’ll be the bait this time. </p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t mind. At least, he says he doesn’t. Someone has to do it, he’s got the best chance of hooking the guy, it’s just good strategy, is all. That’s what he says. But there’s something weird and brittle in his voice when he says it, and Reno knows him well enough that he doesn’t have to ask why. </p><p> </p><p>Reno almost pulls him aside at one point in the planning phase and offers to do it instead. He knows how to do this kind of job. He knows exactly how pretty he is and he knows exactly how to weaponize that. He’s dealt with enough creeps like this one at his last job. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? The problem is that he remembers frog-marching this exact guy, this specific motherfucker, up to the front desk to get his lifetime ban mugshot taken and throwing this specific motherfucker out on the street. And maybe Reno could dye his hair or whatever but there’s still a chance the guy would recognize him and bolt. Rude can’t do it because nobody with two brain cells to rub together is going to try any shit with a guy that looks like him. And who knows when they’re going to get another chance to take this guy out? </p><p> </p><p>No, Tseng is just better at blending in when he has to and Reno knows it. He doesn’t like it, but he knows it. So he bites his tongue and finds him something to wear, something that’ll make him look harmless and still hide a wire and a weapon.</p><p> </p><p>Tseng is a professional. He knows what he’s doing. His backup plans have backup plans and he didn’t get where he is and he didn’t survive as long as he has in this job by being sloppy. And he makes pretty eyes and he smiles at all the right things and he doesn’t flinch away when the guy touches his hand or his arm or his knee. But even before he takes the first sip of the drink he knows is spiked, he’s on edge. The guy might have noticed it, too. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t bite until Tseng drinks the whole fucking thing. </p><p> </p><p>At least shit escalates in a hurry once the guy does bite. At least there’s a window between the guy dragging him out into the alley <em> thinking </em> the shit in his drink kicked in, and the shit in his drink actually kicking in. At least that window is all Tseng needs to put a bullet in the motherfucker’s head before his legs go offline. At least they get to him in time for Reno to get him upright and hold his hair while he gets what he can out of his stomach, and for Rude to Esuna the rest of it out of his bloodstream.</p><p> </p><p>Not for the first time, Reno notices how very goddamn <em> professional </em> Rude is when he’s doing this team medic shit he somehow keeps ending up doing. Reno has seen enough sketchy drinks in his former life to have a general idea whether or not Tseng needs to go to the hospital. But the things Rude is doing--checking his pulse, shining a light in his eyes, asking him if he noticed his drink tasting any specific kind of weird, too sweet or bitter or metallic or whatever--hint at a hell of a lot more knowledge on the subject than Reno has. And when Rude says he has a pretty good idea what was in that drink and Tseng <em> probably </em> doesn’t need to go to the hospital now that it's out of his system but they should take him anyway just to be sure, Reno doesn’t question it. Tseng tries to fight them on that, but he doesn’t fight too hard. He knows he doesn’t have a say in it because <em> he </em>sure as shit can’t drive right now. </p><p> </p><p>(one of these days, Reno thinks as he’s driving them to the damn hospital, as he’s thinking about a nasty-ass slash in his shoulder he barely has a scar from, one of these days he’s going to ask Rude about this but this is so very fuckin’ not the time)</p><p> </p><p>Rude talks to the nurse on duty once they get there because again, he seems to know what the fuck he’s talking about, and Tseng kind of rolls his eyes as they’re rushing him back to check him over properly but he goes along with it. He probably mostly goes along with it because he thinks he won’t hear the fucking end of it if he doesn’t and, well, he’s right.</p><p> </p><p>Once that’s taken care of and they find a place to sit, Rude leans his forehead against Reno’s and shuts his eyes, and Reno huffs out a weary breath and scoots in as close to Rude’s side as these shitty hard plastic waiting room chairs will let him.</p><p> </p><p>“You okay?” Reno whispers.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. Worried about him. You?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hard same.”</p><p> </p><p>And that’s all they say. It’s all they need to say, so they lean on each other and catch a little catnap because it’s fucking late and they’re fucking tired and a lot of shit went down tonight and they’ve got a few minutes when they don’t have to chase anyone or fight anyone or do paperwork about it or do anything else but wait. And despite everything that just happened and despite how worried they both are about their kind of weird but really cool boss, it’s nice to just have a few minutes when they don’t have to do anything. Rude is even chilling out, and he usually acts a little fidgety when they have to go to a hospital. Maybe it’s because they’re topside and this particular ER is fairly quiet at this hour and not full of people waiting to be seen for the kind of shit that happens in the slums. Whatever it is, Reno decides it’s not worth worrying too much about, and he settles back against Rude’s shoulder and dozes off a little. </p><p> </p><p>Tseng comes out an hour later looking like absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened tonight. He looks exhausted, because of course he does, because again it’s fucking late. But he’s walking straight and steady, eyes clear and focused. They still don’t let him drive back to the office and he bitches about that. When they get back he says something about staying to finish up the paperwork and promises them he can get home all right on his own and waves them off.</p><p> </p><p>Reno knows him well enough to notice the catch in his voice when he says he’s fine, but doesn’t call him on it then.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A couple of hours after they finally fall into their own bed and pass out quietly, Reno’s phone rings. Good thing it was his, Rude is fast asleep and dead to the whole fuckin’ world and he never would have picked his own up, and it’s Tseng.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, boss.” Reno rubs sleep gunk out of his eyes and checks the time. It is Absolute Bullshit O’Clock in the morning. Never a great sign when the boss calls at Absolute Bullshit O’Clock in the morning. “We forget something?”</p><p> </p><p>“No. This is, ah...” There’s that catch again. “Personal. I'm sorry. I know it's late.”</p><p> </p><p>"'S cool." Okay. That’s new. "What's up?"</p><p> </p><p>“You know how I feel about leaving our work at work,” Tseng says, and no, there’s definitely something not right about his voice. Like he’s trying too hard to sound normal and he knows Reno can see right through it but he doesn’t know what the fuck else to do. </p><p> </p><p>“I know.” </p><p> </p><p>Where is he going with this?</p><p> </p><p>Rude sort of wakes up, starts to ask what’s going on, listens in for a moment, and decides he doesn’t need to ask after all. He turns on the lamp and wriggles halfway upright, and Reno leans over and snuggles up against his side.</p><p> </p><p>“I had some concerns about you and Rude. About you not being able to do that if you...” He stops. “You said something about it following you home anyway, and I didn’t think... I’d never had that problem.”</p><p> </p><p>“You okay, boss?“ This isn’t like him. None of this is like him, and Reno is starting to wonder if maybe they need to take him back to the hospital, if there’s something they missed, if he hit his head when he went down, if there was something else in that drink they didn’t account for. “That shit still messing with you?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I--I’m fine. Physically, at least. I just...” There’s a long silence. “I can’t leave this. I thought I could, I’ve never <em> not </em>been able to but...”</p><p> </p><p>Ah, fuck. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay.” On the one hand Reno is glad he’s smart enough to know when he needs help and he’s not too proud to call them up at four in the morning to get it but on the other... <em> fuck. </em>“You need us to come over?”</p><p> </p><p>“No. No, I just need to... process it.” A deep breath. “I need to think out loud, and I need you to not say anything until I’m done.”</p><p> </p><p>“You got it.” Reno settles in against Rude, phone between their ears. “We’re listening.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Tseng calls in late the next morning (late, not out, because of fucking course he doesn’t just take the day off like a normal person would, he never does, they’re actually amazed they convinced him to even sleep in an extra few hours) and he looks like hell when he does come in. But he’s pretty much okay. Not that they’ve got much of a frame of reference, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen him <em> not </em>be able to leave his work at work, but he seems okay. He can focus on what he needs to do, and he’s not zoning out or anything. Rude still keeps a close eye on him, ready to send his ass home at the first sign of anything not right, and Reno brings him his nasty black coffee and an everything bagel, and they hang around him as much as he’ll put up with and by quitting time he’s more or less back to normal. Or at least he’s back on his human-shaped icicle bullshit, which is close enough to “normal” for him that Reno is willing to let it slide. </p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t give them any more shit about their relationship after that. </p><p> </p><p>Of course he gives them a token headshake and sigh when he catches them smooching on company time because he has to, because he’s their boss and giving them shit is just one of the perks of that job, but it’s like... the closest thing to a joke Tseng is physically capable of when he’s on duty.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>And then there’s finally a job that follows Rude home.</p><p> </p><p>Reno can’t really blame him because it was an ugly one. There were hostages. Most of them made it out alive, but one didn’t. Real shitty of these guys to kill the doctor first, Reno thinks. And yeah, that’s kind of sticking in his head too, not the way that one job did, but still. He gets why it’s bugging Rude.</p><p> </p><p>Or at least he thinks he does. He figures it’s just... hostage situation, less than a hundred percent hostage survival rate, y’know. He’s not sure because Rude’s not talking about it. He talks <em> around </em> it that night. Like he wants to talk about it, like he knows he <em> can </em> talk to Reno about shit like that, but it’s sticking in his throat and he can’t quite hack it up.</p><p> </p><p>He gets up at Absolute Bullshit O’Clock in the morning and says something about going to the gym. Which is weird, because he never just <em> wakes up </em> at that hour. He never just <em> wakes up </em>period, he has to hit the snooze button at least twice before he drags his ass out of bed every morning.</p><p> </p><p>He comes back a couple hours later and doesn’t turn the light on. He crawls back into bed and wraps his arm tight around Reno’s waist, presses their foreheads together.</p><p> </p><p>“‘Kay?” Reno asks him.</p><p> </p><p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>Reno knows he’s not going to get anything out of him by asking, so he just tucks his head under Rude’s chin and snuggles in close against him and waits.</p><p> </p><p>He has to wait longer than he likes (he is not a patient guy and never has been) but not as long as he expects.</p><p> </p><p>“I knew her,” Rude finally says.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Fuck.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Okay. Yeah. That’s a thing that happens in this job, sometimes. And there’s nothing that can prepare you for seeing someone you know get taken away in a bag, even if you didn’t really <em> know </em>them, even if you just knew their name or face, just saw them behind a shop counter or waiting your table at a certain time every day or whatever. It’s happened to Reno a couple of times, not even with people he knew all that well and it was still kind of a gut punch. It’ll happen again, sooner or later, and it’s not something you ever get used to.</p><p> </p><p>“Used to work with her. Back, uh...” He swallows. “Back in school.” He says that like he’s embarrassed about it, so Reno doesn’t ask.</p><p> </p><p>Later, when he’s awake and he’s gotten some caffeine and some carbs in him and he’s got more than two brain cells online, he’ll put the pieces together. And a whole lot of things will suddenly make a whole hell of a lot more sense. And he’ll have a few questions, first and foremost <em> why the absolute fuck are you doing </em> this <em>i</em><em>nstead of being a doctor? </em> </p><p> </p><p>But right now it is too fucking late and Reno is too tired to do that particular bit of math and it’s probably just as well. So he just rubs Rude’s back and murmurs something he hopes sounds reassuring. He guesses it works, at least a little, because Rude rolls over onto his back and carries Reno along for the ride and lets out a deep, heavy breath.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry I woke you up.” </p><p> </p><p>“Nothin’ to be sorry about.” </p><p> </p><p>Neither of them says anything for a long time, and Reno thinks maybe Rude went to sleep, and he starts to think maybe he should too. But just when he closes his eyes and starts to slip a little, he feels Rude’s fingers combing through his hair. He doesn’t pull, he doesn’t grab--not like that first time. It’s slow and gentle and neither of those things are what Reno usually likes but right now it feels so good he can’t help but make a soft little noise and pick his head up to kiss Rude’s shoulder or chest or whatever he can reach like this.</p><p> </p><p>“Need you,” Rude whispers.</p><p> </p><p>He’s never said it like that. He’s said <em> want you </em>a few times. Most of the time he doesn’t say anything. </p><p> </p><p>He wants to do it his way, and that’s fine. It’s what they both need right now and it feels good. </p><p> </p><p>It feels good when Rude rolls him over and crawls on top of him, pressing him into the mattress. It feels good when Rude ducks down and kisses him--his mouth, his neck, his shoulders, his chest, everywhere he can reach. He doesn’t bite, doesn’t use his teeth at all. Just his lips and a little bit of tongue and it’s soft and warm and it feels like it should be boring but it’s not. Not even. It feels good when Rude pushes inside him and wraps one of those big strong hands around his cock. He’s so careful, and always goes so slow at first, and he doesn’t skimp on the lube and it always kind of surprises Reno when they do it like this, how he just kind of drifts along with it and thinks it might even put him to sleep until his orgasm sneaks up on him out of nowhere, barely gives him time to realize how close he is before it hits him. Just like it does this time. It leaves him clinging to Rude with all his strength, with arms tight around his shoulders and legs tight around his waist and mouth crushed to the side of his neck to muffle the noises he can’t help making while he empties himself into Rude’s hand. That’s always enough to push Rude over the edge too and <em> that </em>feels good.</p><p> </p><p>Everything about it feels good, and that’s new. It usually feels at least a little weird at first, being taken care of the way Rude takes care of him when they do it like this. Maybe he’s just starting to get used to it.</p><p> </p><p>But like he said, he’s starting to get used to a lot of things he never thought he’d need or want to get used to.</p><p> </p><p>When Rude finally catches his breath he pushes up onto his knees and he sits there until he thinks his legs might work. But this time he does something a little different. He looks at the hand Reno came all over, and he looks like he’s thinking about something, and Reno doesn’t say anything because he thinks he knows where this is going but he doesn’t want to ruin it. And sure enough, Rude touches one fingertip to his tongue. </p><p> </p><p>And that’s all he does. He’s trying not to make a face. He’s not having to try as hard as Reno expected him to. But he still kind of makes a face.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Reno says. “That’s, uh... kind of an acquired taste? It’s okay.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” is all Rude says to that, with a little breath of a laugh along with it, and he gets up and wobbles off to the bathroom to clean up. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Reno calls while he’s doing that, “bring me a towel? And a bottle of water if you’re going to the kitchen or whatever?”</p><p> </p><p>“Your legs ain’t broke.” </p><p> </p><p>Reno can hear the smile in his voice, and he can’t help but laugh. Mostly because he’s relieved that Rude <em> can </em>smile now. “C’mon. You’re already up.”</p><p> </p><p>“Think fast.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wh--” The bathroom door opens and a lump of warm damp washcloth arcs gently through the air to land on Reno’s chest with a wet splat. “Oh, here we fuckin’ go.” Funny, he thinks, how he used to say that when he wanted to pick a fight. Now it’s just one of their things. Just an in-joke or some shit. So he cleans himself up, and any other time he might throw it back through the bathroom door and see what he hits but... nah. Not tonight. Rude’s had a rough night and just this once, just for his sake, he’ll get up and rinse it out and hang it on the bar like a decent human being.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey.” Rude brushes past him, heading back to bed. “Get me some water while you’re up, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“I just...” Yes, Reno loves him. But <em> this fuckin’ guy. </em> “I literally fuckin’ walked right into that, didn’t I.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep.” Rude pats him on the ass, and he swats at that hand but doesn’t really mean it.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine. God.” He can’t bitch too much, though. So he pads off to the kitchen and grabs two bottles of water out of the fridge. When he comes back to bed he seriously thinks about touching that cold-ass bottle to the back of Rude’s neck, but... again, nah. Not tonight. Definitely filing that one away for next time, though. </p><p> </p><p>For now he just crawls back into bed and hands Rude his water like a decent human being and chugs about half of his own. And while he’s thinking about it, he reaches over and tweaks the alarm because it is half past Absolute Bullshit O’Clock in the morning and after all of this there’s no way in hell he’s getting up before the sun does.</p><p> </p><p>“Guess we’re not running in the morning,” Rude says when he’s done with that.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s kinda already fuckin’ morning so... you guess right.”</p><p> </p><p>“You can go if you want.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah.” Reno snuggles in against Rude’s side and wraps an arm around him. “You’re stuck with me, partner.”</p>
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